PCMC submits Rs 95cr proposal to state for water supply to 29 villages

Navi Mumbai: Following a spate of protests over water scarcity, PCMC new commissioner Ganesh Deshmukh has taken serious note of the issue and on Tuesday submitted a detailed project report (DPR) to the state government for construction of 41 elevated storage reservoirs (ESR) in 29 villages under 23 grampanchyats that were inducted in Panvel civic body during its formation on October 1, 2016. The mega project is pegged at Rs 94.64 crore which will be commissioned under AMRUT scheme of the central government with PCMC and state government sharing 25% investment each and rest borne by the Centre. In the DPR around 20 MLD has been provisioned for a population of around 1 lakh as per the 2011 census. The villagers are dependent on wells, hand pumps and private tankers. The ESRs will help reduce the water woes faced by the residents in village pockets, said a civic official. PCMC chief is confident to start work by August to complete the project over the next two years. “As a step forward in this direction I have tabled the DPR with the government for its sanction,” said Deshmukh.

The ESRs will have different capacity in accordance with the population for the villages. “The capacity has been calculated on the basis of available data of population from the last census. However, the total supply will be more than the minimum requirement,” said an official. A villager from Ektapada, Sripad Gore said, “We are yet to see the tap water ever since the corporation was formed in 2016.”